Asheboro is only a 30-minute drive from Greensboro if you speed a little, and next month a good number of area residents may be making that trip.
On Friday, Oct. 4 the 47th Annual Asheboro Fall Festival will get underway.
The event will kick off that evening with a concert in downtown Asheboro’s Bicentennial Park from 7 to 9 p.m. That will be followed by plenty of activities over the next two days. After Friday night, the festivities will continue on Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and, on Sunday, Oct. 6, from noon to 6 p.m.
According to event promoters, the festival is for all ages and it will include live music in downtown Asheboro’s Bicentennial Park on Friday night with the Bluegrass band Hindsight and rock band Burnt Biscuits. Music will continue to fill the Asheboro air throughout the weekend. Many local bands and other acts will provide entertainment – including William Nesmith, Mightier Than Me and The Steadfast Bluegrass Gospel Band.
In addition, street performers will be singing as well as entertaining the crowd.
While people will listen to Burnt Biscuits, they’ll be able to purchase and eat much tastier items such as funnel cakes, roasted corn and properly cooked turkey legs.
There will also be a “Kidz and Teen Zone,” at Bicentennial Park in and on North Fayetteville Street. That zone will include bounce houses and play areas as well as a gaming center, face painting and other arts and crafts activities. With even the spelling of the name being fun and modern, kids can probably expect a good time in that area.
The festival got its start with the “Old-Fashioned Fall Festival” in 1972 with about 30 vendors only on Sunset Avenue in downtown Asheboro. The 2019 incarnation of the Asheboro Fall Festival will have over 185 vendors with handcrafted goods, tasty desserts and other items for sale.
Since 1972, the Fall Festival has also grown in terms of its footprint. It now takes over much of Worth Street, Fayetteville Street, and Sunset Avenue –bordered by Cox Street, Salisbury Street, Academy Street and Church Street.
The festival is put on each year by the Randolph Arts Guild on the first full weekend in October.
